Address labels on printable 8½×11 and A4 sheets have been in use for a number of years as a means of printing a medium to large number of addresses or other information in a relatively short period of time. After the label sheets have been printed, these labels must then be removed from the sheet and applied to an envelope or other substrate. The standard method for removing the labels by hand is that the user bends back the label sheet somewhere in the vicinity of one of the edges or corners of the first label to be removed. This causes a separation between the label and the liner. The user grasps the label in the area where the separation has been created, and removes the label from the sheet. This operation is then repeated for each label. This operation can be somewhat difficult and time consuming, and requires a fair amount of manual dexterity. In addition, some combinations of materials such as a thin or flexible face and thick paper liner can be difficult to die cut without cutting into the liner. When the die cut extends into the liner, the user can accidentally tear off a section of the liner in the process of removing the label from the liner.
Label strips or webs have also been invented for use with automated label removal and placement machinery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,284 issued to Hirst discloses a label strip with a cut running down the centerline of the release liner and underneath the center of the individual labels. The label strip moves over a V-shaped notch in a separator plate, thereby automatically separating the labels from the release liner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,152 issued to Ericson discloses a Bible index label dispensing sheet having a weakened line in the backing and fold lines in the individual labels. A release strip overlies the weakened backing line on one side of each horizontal row of labels. The release strip acts as an adhesive tape to prevent premature rupture of the sheet. The user grasps and pulls away the release strip, and tears off the backing from a portion of the horizontal row of labels.